Chad Gray of hard rockers HELLYEAH has spoken his thoughts to fans on the passing of drum legend Vinnie Paul. If you are a fan or anyone in general you should read this as it is heartfelt and full of brotherhood. Condolences to the folks in HELLYEAH who we appreciate a lot around here.

News of Vinnie Paul’s death first broke an hour ago on Billboard as of the time I’m writing this. A while later news of his passing was posted on the Pantera Facebook page.

Vinnie Paul was, as the Facebook page makes note of, the drummer of Pantera and Hellyeah. He was also the drummer in Rebel Meets Rebel and Damageplan.

From the time of the release of Pantera’s Metal Magic through till his death, Vinnie Paul had been involved in the heavy metal scene for over 35 years, setting the rhythm from behind his kit that would drive Pantera and Hellyeah to the front of the pack.

You can’t throw a rock in the heavy metal community without finding a fan of the music Vinnie helped make. From shotgun-slinging Cowboys From Hell to those who have a New Found Power, to those who just like to throw up their devil horns and declare Hellyeah! Vinnie Paul has been a prolific contributor to the scene.

Metal Riot contributor Andrew Johann Datoush had this to say about the news:

“I’ve always been a fan of everything Pantera did prior to Cowboys From Hell. That entire era for them was criminally underrated. There was some excellent song writing in those days. Dime had a different guitar style back then, and Vinnie’s drumming back then very clearly showed his love of KISS. There was definitely some Eric Carr influence to his drumming present in those days. While a lot of fans will be playing some of the harder tracks during their tributes tonight, I’ll be sticking with their more melodic era, and playing their tune “We’ll Meet Again” from their Power Metal album. Rest easy Vinnie. Give Heaven a Hell of a soundtrack!”

As I listen to “Matter of Time” and feel a chill run through my body, I don’t have anything more to say. We here at Metal Riot are all deeply saddened by Vinnie Paul’s death. It’s almost 1am here on the east coast of the U.S. and sometimes all you have is to put the metal on and break the fucking knob.

Rest in Peace Vinnie Paul!

Terribly saddened by the news of Vinnie Paul’s passing. Vinnie was a beloved fixture in the rock and metal communities and we will miss seeing him out on the road. His impact on heavy music is immeasurable. Rest In Peace Vinnie, condolences to your family, friends and fans.

Tragic news about Vinnie Paul today. He was one of the warmest people I knew. A truly good & fun friend. We're going to miss you more than you could possibly have known. RIP buddy. https://t.co/yQqruY4tio

GOD BLESS VINNIE PAUL – 1964-2O18 – FATHER VINNIE,Your Compassion for others & Your Love for seeing everyone around you Happy I will never forget – Your Heart of Gold Made The World a Better Place – Go be w/Your BELOVED BROTHER – I LOVE YOU – tBLSt SDMF pic.twitter.com/8VC3T3hQa2

Not confederate flag apologist at all+def was not into Phil white wine antics but this is about good Vinnie did, not just low points. pantera made a huge impact on metal and did more good than bad. Crushed live. hellyeah camp was swell to M Riot. Hardest snare hit in metal. Rip

“When making this record fell in my lap and I had to write these riffs, I didn’t look at it as a negative. On the other side of it, trying to keep the band together… things were fucking toxic. We almost didn’t make it through. If we kept things the same we would have dissolved. If we broke free of it we had a shot at doing what we needed to do… Our last record was Band Of Brothers and it couldn’t have been further from the fuckin’ truth” – Tom Maxwell

If you thought Hellyeah were cool but they never quite reached the heights of their members former bands, rest easy. The leaner and meaner Hellyeah of 2014 is pretty much the band most of us always wanted them to be. Greg Tribbett and Bobzilla had some good contributions and no offense to those dudes. They surely pleased fans of the Damage Plan and Mudvayne days, but this new version of the group is sooo much more on fire. I can safely say that Blood For Blood, the pending new record from the group, is by far their best album and certain to be the best “mainstream” hard rock release of the year (even if it doesn’t feature a cover of “Revenge on Society”, haha). Anyway, This is what you would hope to hear from members of Pantera, Mudvayne and Nothingface…aggressive riffs, Vinnie Paul hitting the drums so hard the world shakes and Chad Gray at his absolute best whether handling eerie, heart sick melody or rapid fire screams and morbid yet hope-infused banter. While a semblance of the group’s party vibe remains, the lyrics are a lot darker and more real on Blood For Blood. Cleaning house really did the band favors and I am done bitching that Chad should just go back to Mudvayne. The more minimal sound and serious, angry themes here work fucking wonders as Tom Maxwell’s sick ass groove metal riffs and Vinnie Paul’s blatantly more excited drumming audibly shine loud and clear. The band sound excited and ready to fire on all cylinders. Hell yeah!

Look…have any of you ever thought about the fact that Tom must be a pretty fucking cool guy if Vinnie feels comfortable with him as his main guitar honcho after what happened to Dimebag? Anybody out there as big a fan of Nothingface’s Violence as I am? Well, this Hellyeah record is where it all comes together and hopefully marks the start of a great new era for the band. Tom talks to us about new member Kyle Sanders (Bloodsimple, Monstro),Vinnie Paul playing heavier than he has in years, Chad digging really deep vocally, touring with Avenged Sevenfold and much more. Blood For Blood is a celebration of all things metal.Come June y’all better crank this bitch up to 11!

Tom was under the weather at the time of the interview but he manned up. Thanks, dude! For our exclusive interview with Tom click HERE.

…Determined to bring their fans something fresh and new, the members of HELLYEAH have hunkered down in Las Vegas, Nevada with producer Kevin Churko (Ozzy Osbourne, Five Finger Death Punch, In This Moment) and are nearing the end of an epic time in the studio.

The band, comprised of rock royalty, Vinnie Paul of Pantera; Chad Gray and Greg Tribbett of Mudvayne, Tom Maxwell of Nothingface and Bobzilla of Damageplan, has been making good-time hard rock music since its debut in 2007. Adding a new dimension to their work, they brought in producer and collaborator, Churko. The band’s growth and his contribution promise to make this release unforgettable.

Says Big Vin: “This record is heavy and diverse. It was an honor working with Kevin Churko… everything we did on this record was from a different perspective. Kevin really pushed and got the best out of us. Can’t wait for all the HELLIONS to hear it.”

Churko: “HELLYEAH has really come into this record with a hunger. They’re putting everything they have into it. They’ve really impressed me both with the tracks they brought in and with their drive to make them even better. I think they’ll really be delivering their best record yet to their fans and they’ll be making new believers out of others. 2014 will be the year of HELLYEAH!.”

The as-yet-untitled release is due out on Eleven Seven Music on April 28 in the UK and 29 in the US. Now if only they would do a B-side cover of Skrapp Metal’s “Muff Diving In The 80’s”, I’d be super pumped. Chad could give Jeff Scott Soto a run for his $.

Heavy metal legends Iced Earth will be touring North America starting next week, hitting the road with Volbeat, Hellyeah, and The Sixxis for an extensive 5-week journey. They are touring in support of Dystopia, their 10th album off of Century Media Records.

“I’m completely stoked, Volbeatis one of my all-time favorite bands, and Michael and the boys are great people. There is a lot of mutual respect and admiration, and I think we are in for a hell of a good time! This will be a package that won’t soon be forgotten, I’m sure of that.”

Metal’s semi-supergroup Hellyeah have just conducted a new interview in promtoion of their new album Band of Brothers, due June 5th via Eleven Seven Records.

Commented singer Chad Gray, “With Band Of Brothers, I just quit being afraid of who I am in relation to this band. I think we’ve all really gotten back to the original roots of what we’ve done individually and brought it together on this album. As an artist, as long as you’re painting with your own brush, no one can compare or challenge you. I just painted with a bigger, heavier brush than I had with Hellyeahin the past. I think this is what fans have always expected to hear from us, and now were giving it to them.”

California metalcore band In This Moment have been added to the annual ShipRocked cruise this coming Fall. Departing out of Ft. Lauderdale, the cruise lasts from November 14-19 and stops in Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico during its journey. Other bands on-board the ship include Buckcherry, Queensryche, Hinder, Hellyeah, Sevendust, Sick Puppies, Candlebox, Filter, Living Colour, and more. There will be multiple performances, parties, and opportunities to meet & greet your favorite artists so fans that want to grab the chance to cruise in rock style should head over to ShipRocked’s site here for more info.

Start your new year off right with a hot shot of Jagermeister and a rocking live show. This coming January, the Jagermeister Music Tour kicks off in San Diego, California and traverses the states for 23 dates. Buckcherry, All That Remains, Hellyeah, and The Damned Things will all be live and direct for your viewing pleasure. This marks the 17th tour and the 9th year of existence. That is a massive amount of Jagermeister.

Texas rockers Hellyeah are currently touring the UK with Avenged Sevenfold and Stone Sour. Sonic Shocks caught up with drummer Vinnie Paul, also of Pantera fame, to discuss the current tour, the material on the new album, and Vinnie Paul’s cookbook.

Hellyeah released their second album “Stampede” on July 13, 2010 through Epic Records.

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